What's up guys. I'm a first year at Tufts, thought I would share my thoughts on the admissions process here since it is a slightly different situation from a lot of other schools. I was lucky enough to get in right off the bat after my interview. I say that Tufts is slightly different than other schools because of the extremely high total cost of the school. I think a lot of people who get into Tufts before May 15th or whatever hold onto their spot hoping to get into somewhere either more desirable than Boston (as was my case) or cheaper... ie a state school. That is one situation that tends to move the wait-list along more quickly than you might find at other schools... the cost scares a lot of people off.
Another scenario that might explain why they either defer a decision on you or wait-list you is that people are holding multiple spots up until the deadline, and then they might drop Tufts when they hold onto that one school's acceptance after May 15th. I can tell you from experience talking to some of the prospective students that many of those that interviewed early were "highly motivated" so to speak... ie it was like October and they were on their 10th interviews already (read: they turned their applications in the second past midnight June 1st or whatever). So it could be that these types are still holding Tufts from when they got in 7 months ago, and since the admissions office can't give out more acceptances at any time than they have potential spots, there could be a flood of acceptances coming off the wait list soon.
I do know that approximately 50-60% of those who interview end up getting in eventually, but that might not be until August when you find out. I would have to say that at least half of the people I know from my class were wait-listed for some period of time, but that the wait-list really does have a lot of turnover. The main reason for that turnover is the cost... Tufts is a solid med school, and the only drawback for most people is the cost of tuition and the cost of living in Boston. I'm not the biggest Boston fan myself, but I'm not from anywhere near the Northeast. Anyway, if you guys get put on the wait-list, you really have a good shot at getting in... class size is 170 by the way, so there is probably plenty of spots up for grabs this summer. Good luck.
Another scenario that might explain why they either defer a decision on you or wait-list you is that people are holding multiple spots up until the deadline, and then they might drop Tufts when they hold onto that one school's acceptance after May 15th. I can tell you from experience talking to some of the prospective students that many of those that interviewed early were "highly motivated" so to speak... ie it was like October and they were on their 10th interviews already (read: they turned their applications in the second past midnight June 1st or whatever). So it could be that these types are still holding Tufts from when they got in 7 months ago, and since the admissions office can't give out more acceptances at any time than they have potential spots, there could be a flood of acceptances coming off the wait list soon.
I do know that approximately 50-60% of those who interview end up getting in eventually, but that might not be until August when you find out. I would have to say that at least half of the people I know from my class were wait-listed for some period of time, but that the wait-list really does have a lot of turnover. The main reason for that turnover is the cost... Tufts is a solid med school, and the only drawback for most people is the cost of tuition and the cost of living in Boston. I'm not the biggest Boston fan myself, but I'm not from anywhere near the Northeast. Anyway, if you guys get put on the wait-list, you really have a good shot at getting in... class size is 170 by the way, so there is probably plenty of spots up for grabs this summer. Good luck.
